Wheel and drag-line scraper.



B. M. SHEAFFER.

WHEEL AND DRAG LINE SORAPER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.5,1912.

Patented July 1, 1913.

2 snnms-sanm 1 awua/wboz firm/ ELMER M. SHEAFFER, 0F PROCTOR, COLORADO.

WHEEL AND DRAG-LINE SCRAPER.

Specification of Letters latent.

Patented July 1, 1913.

Original application filed October 23, 1911, Serial No. 656,105. Dividedand this application filed February 5, 1912. Serial No. 675,608.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, ELMEH M. Sirinlvrrn'u, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Proctor, in the county of Logan and State ofColorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in \Vheeland Drag- Line Scrapers, of which the following is a full, clear, andexact specification.

This invention relates to iinprovelnents 1n excavating machinery, andhas for its ob ect the provision of a scraper and means tor operatingsame particularly adapted for use in building dams and leveling holds,this application being a division of my application filed October 23,1911, Serial No. 050,105.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a scraper, and attachmentsby winch the same may be operated tt'ron'i any ordinary traction engine,to provide novel means whereby the scraper may be made to cut to agreater or less depth as may be desired, and may be dumped automaticallyat the desired point, and to improve the construct on and increase theefficiency of the excavating apparatus.

The objects of the invention are attained in mechanism the preferredform of which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings andhereinafter fully described.

The novel features of the invention are particularly pointed out in theclaim at the end of the description.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of the entire apparatus showingit connected with a traction engine; Fig. 2 is an end elevation of thescraper and the carriage connected therewith; Fig. 3 is a rear elevationof the driving shaft and the means for mounting the same on the machine.

The scraper or excavating device of this invention, it will beunderstood, may be connected to and operated by any neterred form ofmotor or engine or other power. One form of such operating mechanism Ihave shown in the accompanying drawings wherein I employ a saddle orarched support A which is adapted to fit over and rest upon the boilerof a tract-ion engine, as shown in Fig. 1, and the sides of which areriveted or otherwise firmly secured to the boiler. "he sides of thesaddle are reinforced by vertical ribs r thereon which terminate in eyesat their lower ends, said eyes being engaged by the upper ends of linksor anchor bolts a. The lower ends of these anchor bolts extend. througha clamp bar y, which passes transversely under the firebox of the engineand suitable nuts on the ends of the links are turned home against theclamp bar thereby securely fastening the saddle in place upon theengine. Bearings 13- B are formed on or secured to the saddle at the topthereof and the driving shaft O is journalml in these bearings, as shownand as will be understood. A gear wheel D is mounted on the shaft O atone end of the saddle and meshes with a second gear wheel E which isloosely mounted on the crank or power shaft (1 of the engine. A clutchblock F is rigid on the power shaft O at the side of the gear wheel I!)and a pin f slidably mounted in said block is adapted to lock the sameto the said wheel -E so that they will rotate together when it isdesired to operate the QXCZLVtLlLOl'. When it is desired that theexcavating mechanism or scraper remain inoperative while the tractionengine travels over the field, the locking pin or latch f is rotated bymeans oil? a crank handle a at its outer end, said handle thereuponriding upon a cam or beveled surface on the clutch block so that the pinwill be drawn outward through the clutch block and released from itsengagement with the gear wheel. A reverse rotation oi the crank handle,will, of course, move the locking pin in 'ard to lock the gear wheelv tothe sha'lt so that the ex ea ater will be operated.

Drums (l t are mounted loosely upon the driving shaft (.1 beyond thesides oi. the saddle and the scraper-controlling cables ll H are securedto and wrap around said drums, one cable winding as the other unwinds.Friction clutches l: l are secured upon the driving shaft immediatelyadjacent the drums and have llanges adapted to engage peripheralsurfaces of the drums so as to lock the respective drums to the shaftand thereby cause either drum to wind the cable attached thereto so asto draw the scraper forward or backward. These clutches are operated bypistons mounted in cylinders J J to which steam is admitted throughsuitable connections with the steam chest or steam space of the boiler.

Secured by suitable brackets 0 r) to one side of the boiler (the rightside in the present illustration) is a boom or supporting beam N whichprojects diagonally from the front end of the boiler and carries theguide pulleys K K around which the cable H passes to the scraper M. Thesaid cable is connected to the draft bar Z which is in turn connectedwith the scraper by means of the links 0 cand n n, the links 0 c beingpivotally attached to partitions d cl of the scraper while the links a nare mounted on the trunnions P P on the ends of the scraper. On the leftside of the boiler, atthe front end thereof, is a bracket L upon whichis a clevis Z a guide pulley K being journaled in said clevis and thecable H passing around said guide pulley to the guide pulleys K K andthence to a carriage R arranged in rear of and connected with thescraper. The guide pulleys K and K are mounted in a beam X which, likethe boom N, is composed of two I-beams bolted together, clevises orrings Y Y being provided at the ends of the beam X to receive anchoringcables whereby the beam may be secured at the side of the proposedexcavation.

The scraper or excavator M has an open front and top and is composedprincipally of a thick sheet of iron. Along the front edge of the bottomof the scraper is a steel blade 0 having its front edge sharpened to cutthrough the earth while projecting forward from said blade and fittingover and under the same are teeth P, P P etc., which penetrate and breakup the earth so that the cutter or blade may readily pass therethrough.The rear ends of the teeth abut the front ends of runners Q, Q Q etc.,which extend along the bottom of the scraper and up the back of the sameto protect the body ofthe scraper when it is being drawn over theground. Riders or yokes Z are secured to the ends of the scraper and tothe partitions (Z and project upwardly and forwardly therefrom in properposition to support the scraper when it is dumped, the trunnions 79, 7)being located in rear of the center of gravity so that the loadedscraper will dump automatically when released. To the back of thescraper is rigidly secured a lever arm V which extends upwardly abovethe scraper and from the upper end of which a cable H extends to a drumS on the carriage R. The said drum is mounted in and between thestandards T, T, rising from the platform of the carriage, and isequipped at one or both ends with a hand wheel U so that it may beeasily manipulated by an operator on the platform. A brake s is arrangedon the drum and acts uponthe same, being connected with and controlledby a foot lever Z) on the platform of the carriage. It will be readilyunderstood that when the foot is removed from the lever Z) the brake isreleased and the weight of the load in the scraper will cause it to tiltforward and dump. The hand wheel U is then operated to wind the cable Hon the drum S and thereby act through the lever arm V to return thescraper to its operative position. The carriage R is mounted on wheels Whaving a broad tread and is connected to the scraper by coupling bars tt which are bolted to the carriage and have their front ends pivotedupon the trunnions p p on the ends of the scraper.

The construction and arrangement of the several parts of the apparatusbeing thus made known, it is thought the operation will be readilyunderstood. The apparatus is designed more particularly for building afill from a borrow pit in the construction of an earthwork dam. F orthis purpose, the engine or other operating mechanism is placed at oneend of the proposed fill and the beam X carrying the pulleys K K isanchored at a point beyond the proposed borrow pit. The cables H H?being connected to the scraperand the carriage respectively, and thecarriage being disposed close to the beam X, the power of the engine isapplied to rotate the driving shaft 0 and the clutch Z is caused to lockthe drum G to the shaft so that the cable H will be wound. The scraperis thereby drawn over' the ground and is tilted by the operator on thecarriage manipulating the drum S as will be readily understood, thedegree of inclination being dependent on the nature of the material tobe excavated or the depth of excavation desired. hen the scraper istilted, its teeth and front cutting edge are caused to penetrate theground so that the travel of the scraper will cause earth, gravel, etc.,to flow into and fill the same. Vhen the filled scraper has been drawnto the dumping point, the brake b is released whereupon the weight oftheload will cause the'scraper to tilt forward and discharge its contentsin the fill. The engineer then releases the drum G and locks the drum Gto the driving shaft so as to draw upon the cable H and thereby returnthe carriage and scraper to the starting point, the scraper beingreturned to its filling position by the operator winding the cable H onthe drum S. During the travel of the scraper the inactive cable isprevented from dropping ofi' the guiding pulleys by applying justsufficient pressure to the drum to prevent slack in the cable as it paysout;

The operation is then repeated until the fill has been brought to thedesired width and it is to be observed that the diagonal disposition ofthe forward portion of the boom N V carries it away from the plane ofthe wheels 7 of the engine and the boom should be placed at such aheight that the scraper may pass under it, as shown in Fig. 1, therebydump-' ing outside of the path of the'rear engine wheels. When the fillhas been brought to the desired width, the pin or latch f is manipulatedto release the gear wheel from the coupling block F and the tractiongear of the engine is thrown into operation so that the apparatus may bemoved forward a distance equal to the width of the scraper. The engineand the beam X are then again anchored and the former operationrepeated, these several successive steps being performed as often asnecessary to complete the required fill. It will be readily a )preciatedthat the advancing engine rolls and packs the fill so that all the workneeded to build the dam will be rapidly, easily and etiieientlyaccomplished.

WVhile my improved apparatus is intended more particularly for use inconstructing dams as stated, it may obviously be advantageously employedfor various other purposes, such as leveling fields, grading streets,building railroad grades, digging irrigation canals, etc.

My improvements may be attached to any traction engine and the scraperis under full control at all times inasmuch as the operator on thecarriage traveling behind and connected directly with the scraper is ina position to instantly detect and cure any i1nproper or unsatisfactoryposition of the scraper. As the drums Gr Gr are mounted loosely on thedriving shaft, the cables H H may wind thereon in the same direction andit is not necessary to reverse the engine in order to reverse thedirection of travel of the scraper, the direction of travel beingdetermined by locking one or the other drum to the shaft as abovedescribed.

Having thus fully described my invention what I claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:--

The combination of a scraper, a carriage back of the scraper andconnected therewith, means for e'll'ecting travel of the :arriage andthe scraper, a lever arm rising from theback of the scraper, a drum onthe carriage, a cable wound on the drum and connected to the lever arm,means to rotate the drum and wind the cable thereon, a brake acting onthe drum, and a foot lever mounted on the carriage and connected to thebrake to apply or release the same.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

ELMER M. SIT IDAFFER.

\Vitnesses J. R. Ha nes, '1. B. I'IIOKEY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). C.

